The question was why
by joshparrilla
Summary: After Emma saves Regina from the fire, Regina wanders into the Woods to have some thinking time in peace. She never expected to find her blonde savior in there too.


_After Emma saves Regina from the fire, Regina wanders into the Woods to have some thinking time in peace. She never expected to find her blonde savior in there too._

Regina Mills had always been in charge of the situation. Whenever something difficult was thrown her way, she always knew how to avoid it. She had always been able to stand her ground without doubting her actions. That changed once Henry's biological mother had decided to stay in Storybrooke. And the night before had been no different.

The mayor decided to go for a walk and ended up sneaking into the woods. She needed time to herself. She had to do some thinking. Emma Swan had actually saved her life last night without expecting anything in return. Regina couldn't wrap her head around it. Never before had anyone risked their life to save her…except Daniel, but the memories were too painful and she found herself pushing them back harder than usual. All she truly wanted to think about was Emma.

Her ankle was hurting her, so she decided to stop. As she leaned against a tree, all the memories from the night before galloped back into her mind. She had no idea how the fire had started and she could barely remember why Emma was in her office to begin with. Something to do with Henry or the town, it was all too blurry for her. But she did remember that split of second in which she actually thought Emma was going to leave her there to die. A rush of panic took all over her body; she saw both her lives (in fairy tale land and in Storybrooke) in front of her eyes. She could feel all the regrets, the mistakes and the wrong choices she had made, running through her veins. But before she could give up, Miss Swan had come back for her. With the little strength she had left, Regina had allowed Emma to save her.

The question was, why? Why had Emma come back for her? Why did she risk her life to save the mayor? Why after all the awful things Regina had done to her did Emma come back? For the first time in her life, Regina Mills had no answers. Emma Swan had taken away Regina's ability to control the obstacles life threw her way. Plus, she had taken away Regina's capacity to find all the answers she needed. Regina Mills was completely exposed and off-guard when it came to Emma Swan.

What Regina didn't know was that Emma was feeling the exact same way. A few meters from the mayor's position, the sheriff was sitting down looking up to the sky trying to figure out why she had risked her life to save her son's adoptive mother. She hated Regina with every cell in her body, but for some reason last night was different.

Emma remembered the unexpected fire taking control of the mayor's office. She had been there to discuss some issues with Regina, issues that were later forgotten. For a second she thought about leaving Regina behind. That was her first option, but then she thought about Henry. As much as the kid said he hated his adoptive mom, Emma knew deep down he loved her and cared about her. So leaving her behind was an unacceptable option. Something inside of her told her that her son wasn't the only reason she had decided to go back and save Regina Mills. She knew there was more to it, but what?

Regina started walking again and that's when she saw her. There she was sitting against a fallen tree, looking up to the sky. Her blonde hair was pulled up into a pony tail and it made her look younger than what she really was. She knew Emma hadn't noticed her presence and if she walked away silently, there wouldn't be a need to start a conversation. But something made her walk forward. Something made her reach out to the blonde woman.

"Sheriff Swan." She said in her normal Madame Mayor voice.  
"Oh, Madame Mayor…I didn't know you were here."  
"That's pretty obvious, dear."  
"Always with your snarky comments." A small smiled appeared on Emma's face. "What were you doing out here?"  
"Thinking and as I can see I wasn't the only one with that idea."  
"You might be right."  
"Well…now that I have the chance, I wanted to thank you for what you did last night. It was very…heroic." Regina said as she felt her guard lowering again.  
"Wow! I might just die here. Call an ambulance, the mayor just thanked me for something I did."  
"Don't get used to it, Miss Swan."  
"Let me enjoy the moment."

For a few seconds they were in silence. Emma couldn't believe Regina was actually thanking her, let alone allowing a joke between the two of them without bitching about it. Everything seemed so weird and for the first time she actually felt that Regina had a human side. She knew that side was probably only shown to Henry from time to time in the privacy of their home. A home she had found herself wishing to be part of.

"Why?" Regina asked pulling the blonde back into reality.  
"Why what?"  
"Why did you save me, Emma?" She called her by her first name because it was a personal matter.  
"Henry would have been upset, if I had let you die in there." Emma laughed nervously.  
"You and I both know that's not the real reason. You know how much Henry hates me… Sometimes I have the feeling he wishes I was dead."  
"I don't think he wishes that. I believe he loves you in his own way." They looked at each other. "And to answer your question, I saved you because a little voice inside of me kept telling me to get you out of there before the fire ate you alive. I don't know, Regina, I just couldn't let you die."  
"As I said before, thank you Miss Swan, what you did was very heroic."

Regina started walking back to the town. For the first time since Emma Swan had arrived to Storybrooke, Regina Mills felt completely safe. She knew the blonde wasn't there to destroy her, quite the opposite in fact…the blonde was there to save her.


End file.
